Wednesday, December 06, 2006

December 6, 2006. A Day at the Zoo




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Oh, why not? I have not been to the SF Zoo in years, and it has seemed to be sitting at the top of my wish list. And, the first Wednesday of each month is free admission day, and I figure that I will need to polish my skills at utilizing these type of offers, if I am going to balance expenses and tastes of the cultures while I am out on the road...
I knew it would be a good day, when I witnessed a hilarious event at my first stop. I was getting gas. I was noticing the people around me, w/o paying a whole lot of attention to them. The guy sitting in the SUV on the other side of the island, climbs out and sheepishly says to me, "I got in the wrong car, he,he...". I chuckled at him, and he back, and he walked over to a sedan that was in the parking lot, not at the pumps! He had an ear piece on, and I supose he may have been in a conversation, and that maybe he has a similiar SUV parked in the drive at home...recalling events, I guess he sat in the vehicle a couple of minutes prior to his exclamation : ). The owner of the SUV appears at the pump as this guy is walking away, and he looks over at me and says "what happened?". Now I am about to double over, but I laughingly reply that "he was getting into the wrong car". This guy chuckles. We all had a good chuckle...Maybe you just had to have been there.
I almost don't make it to the zoo, as the surf at Ocean Beach is just awesome! I mean 10' waves breaking 30 yards offshore! Beautiful surf, and surfers were scrambling across the highway with their boards wanting to get some of that. Since it was already 10 am (opening), I decided to stay on point to the zoo.
Seems as if the free wednesday thing is well known. As I was sitiing parked and preparing my things for the day, literally 500 students and scouts filed past on their way in. Oh boy, this oughta be fun I thought. Sure enough. I would suggest that you have already passed your tolerance exams before embarking on one of these free days. Also, an MP3 player, or earplugs are suggested. No. It was OK. I wish that they did not all have to carry around the clipboards and take notes at every exhibit, because they would do so at the railing, and clog up the flow for extended periods of time. Besides that, and the echo test within every tunnel, underpass and corridor, they were pretty good kids. I managed to take in the entire zoo. Made the big cat feeding, was at the Lemure area when they did an instantaneous chorus of screams, watched a seagull invade the penguin exhibit, evidently getting an early survey of where they eggs will be. The penguins were not at all happy with it being there. Sat with some peacocks in a little picnic area. I saw a tiger get very agitated, pacing and glaring through the glass at the kids and folks who were badgering it. It paced one guy along the glass and then as he walked out, gave him a pretty good growl. It was an hour before feeding, and maybe she was just hungry is all. It was a very pleasant visit, and made me wonder why it took so long to get back...
I still had some daylight left, so I went after a geocache that was planted on top of Mount Sutro, one of SF's tallest hills at over 900'. I knew I did not have enough daylight to do the scenic hike from the bottom, so drove the neighborhoods until I found the scent of a trail that would take me up. Only a bit over 150' climb and a half mile or so. The cache indicated no vistas of the city (correct), but unusual vegetation makeup that attracted me to the cache. Sutro had planted a eucalyptus forest, and the cache description had tropical fern, climbing vine, orchids and such in the forest. It also states the flat top peak was previously a missle site. I saw the climbing vines, and I am sure that if I had taken the long route and had more sunlight, I would have seen other non-native species. I did not find the cache. At the end of the day, I have found that I am registering an unusally high number of DNF's, and it matters not, as the places the caches brought me were the important thing. I am pretty sure that this particular cache (Aloha Forest) has been muggled, even finding a gallon freezer bag where the cache should have been...
Driving down off the hill, I am forced on one-way roads and right turns only into who knows where's. I am close enough to my original position that I could stop and get my bearings and find my way out ok.
But. How many times have I unintentially gotten lost in this city? And, where do I need to be by when??? What the hey, How about intentionally getting lost and doing some exploring? I have a folder full of caches on the GPS and nothing but time on my hands. Doesn't get any better than this, right? So, I just start taking the path of least resistance, backroads that have the lesser traffic, and whatever right turn looks good. I find myself in the college area. lots of cache's, but, oh yeah, SF. parking... By the time I find a place to park, I am on Oak st, it is now dark, and I think I might be in the vicinity of... Well, yes I am. Closest cache is named "Love the Haight". OK, now we are cooking! A cache and a walk around Haight/Ashbury, at night...
The cache was a DNF, as you can only search through a paper vending machine for so long, on the corner of Haight and Ashbury, w/o becoming conspicuous :'). No problem, and now that I am here, let's wander...
Walking the sidewalk at night was definitely different. Take Santa Cruz's downtown at night, and multiple that by a factor of 10 or so, and you have Haight/Ashbury! I would have sworn I was in the Carribean by the number of dreads! And, it was a throwback to the concert days of the 70's and 80's, the whispers and inferences as I walked by. Do they even DO acid anymore? Sure heard a lot about it on the walk :). I never had a problem with anyone, but this is certainly not for the feint of heart. The shops, well they are just cool, and again, flashbacks to the those "olden days". I did stumble into a really neat place, called Genesis Imports. I will include some pics of the carved scultures. And Amoeba Music. Wow! Huge building full of vinyl and used CD's. Good thing I am no longer collecting any, or I'd been here for hours. Highly recommend both stores. More organics and mideastern food than you can shake a stick at. Head shop afer head shop. Cops patrolling, but they certainly are passive to what goes on here. OK. Now I can say that I have been here and done this...
Well, another great day on the road. Two zoos (SF and Haight/Ashbury) in one day :'). Animals at every turn, some tame, some not. I got the highs and lows of the city, and lived to tell about it. Life is good.

1 comment:

patalak said...

Hi David (Hank)
Dava sent me your blog site. Hope you are well. Miss ya around here. Wish I had the guts you have to get up and go! The SF Zoo, wow I haven't been there since my youngest was in Kindergarten. 11 years I think. Just wanted to say Hi. Take care,